The Long Goodbye
by Lunar Ember
Summary: Set shortly after the events of Gatekeepers 1985, an older Ruriko learns of the events that happened on that fateful morning of February 11.


**Author's Notes and Spoiler Alerts:**

This story happens right after the novelette "Gatekeepers 1985", and begins specifically at 4:40am, 11th February 1988, so if you don't know what happened to Shun and Ruriko after the ending of the anime series, then it may be best to read it first, or to watch "Gatekeepers 21", which has implications of the arc between the series and the OAV.

This is my first Gatekeepers fanfic, and I hope you like it.

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own Gatekeepers, Gatekeepers 1985, or Gatekeepers 21, so all credit goes to their creators, writers, and producers, but do give me a heads up if you want to repost this story, since I like seeing where the things I write go. :P

* * *

**Lunar Ember Presents**

**A Gatekeepers 1985 Fanfiction**

**The Long Goodbye**

* * *

She felt it as she sat at her desk a few hours before dawn. It was a Thursday, the 11th of February, and as habit dictated, she woke up well before her husband did, checking homework and double checking lesson plans before she had to leave for class.

The feeling was abrupt, like the snapping of a thin string followed a split-second pause which vacuumed upon itself, draining her of the will and the strength. Her sense of him was one of the last things that the Gate left her with, probably because it was the only thing that mattered back then, and now that she felt the severing from his end, her world suddenly teetered on its edge, and it left her frighteningly numb.

She expected the phone call that came soon after. Lifting the receiver on the second ring, she heard a familiar voice crackle through unstable lines.

"It's Kageyama. You probably know what I am going to say."

She remained silent. Would she speak and make everything real?

"Ruriko-san."

"He's dead," she heard herself say.

"He's dead," he confirmed. There were no words of comfort, only of hard facts that was probably written on the report that brought him the news. "He died destroying Shinigami Shinshi. I just thought you needed to hear it from someone."

"Thank you."

She put the phone down, hearing the pounding of her own heartbeat in her ears. _Ukiya-kun is dead. _ There was a numbing sort of finality as the words rolled off her tongue, and before she could even think, she found herself grabbing the jacket that hung on her chair and silently leaving the house.

The early morning was slightly nippy, but she chose to ignore it. She walked the silent streets of her little island home, past the school she taught in, briskly pushing forward until she found herself in the outskirts of town, moving towards rough roads that ended in a grass-covered rice field that was yet to be plowed. She walked through the weeds and the greens, feeling the pre-dawn coolness on her face until she reached the middle of the field and the stars winked clearly above her.

"Ukiya-kun is dead."

She remembered the day that he left her.

_"You've already lost the power of your Gate, how are you going to fight? To me, you are only a burden. Although I'm sorry, from now on, I will fight the Invaders alone. You should go back to your daily life."_

His voice still rang clear in her mind, and as young as she was back then, she knew that was he said was true. She had lost her Gate ability after repeatedly pulling him and the others from the verge of death during 1970 attack that almost destroyed AEGIS, and with Shinigami Shinshi running free, there was no time for romance, and definitely no room for weakness.

She left, knowing that her broken heart would serve a higher purpose.

Now he was dead, and suddenly it didn't make any sense. Something deep in her stirred, something that could not believe that it could end like this, not of she had anything to say about it.

She looked up, raised an arm, and pointed a finger at the star-decked sky.

She was the Gate Keeper of Life, and she was not going to allow Ukiya Shun to escape her that easily.

A slight warmth enveloped her, and like a lamp unused for a very long time, she felt the power flicker and die so many times before it sparked.

"GATE - "

Traces of light danced above her. It was like pushing against a concrete wall, but she was not one to give up, no, not like Ukiya-kun, that damn monkey who left her and gave up on everything…

"OPEN!"

She opened her palm and the lights burst into the familiar beige circles that hummed with power.

He had been wrong. She still had her Gate ability. It was something that could be over-used, but it would never totally disappear. She would show him. After almost two decades, she would have him face her, that idiot lying in a heap somewhere who probably was not even completely dead for all she knew.

"Bring him back."

The circles above her flashed brightly, and she felt their force push upon and pull at her at the same time, as if trying to draw strength from her to grant her wish.

She'd bring him back. She has done so so many times and now wouldn't be any different. She was strong, she could do this, _damn you Shun I can do this -_

"You have to stop."

She appeared before her, an apparition in lilac and blue that looked at her with the perpetual eleven-year-old face and ageless eyes.

"Yukino-san - "

"You have to stop," she repeated. "You cannot use your Gate this way anymore. It shall steal your life and your soul."

"Shun has already stolen my soul years and years ago," she heard herself say in a hoarse, broken voice. "What else have I got to lose?"

The admission opened an old wound in her that never completely healed, but she didn't regret it. She was done keeping everything to herself for so long. She was done living this life, this lie with so many regrets and with so many words of love and anger left unsaid. She was not going to let him get away from all that all over again.

"I'll bring him back," she said, watching the rings above her glow a tinge darker.

"You'll die."

"I'll bring him back! I have to!"

"What about your husband?"

It was an innocent question, but it was enough. The circles that danced above her abruptly disappeared, and the lights in her eyes faded, replaced by a look of confusion and despair.

"My… husband…"

Yukino gazed at her. "He is waiting for you."

_He has been waiting for you for such a long time_, were her unspoken words, and they hit her like knives. A kind, soft-spoken literary writer, he saw past her fake cheerful demeanor and gently took care of her brokeness. He never knew her past and he never asked about it, yet he stayed her true guardian, married her, and gave her a comfortable life as much as he could afford.

She loved him, but the tragedy of her story was that she couldn't love him as much as she loved -

"Shun," she said, as she felt tears slowly form in her eyes. "Shun is dead."

The Gatekeeper of Ice and Snow only looked at her in silence.

The reality of his passing finally hit her like a maelstrom. There won't ever be a closure now; no explanations, no apologies, no reunions, no happy endings.

Falling on her knees, Ruriko covered her face with her hands and cried.

_"The sound of the wind_  
_As it touches lonely seas_  
_Sings of memories_  
_Of a love that will remain._  
_No - nothing is ever lost."_

Yukino's voice was soft, and she felt her tiny hand touch her head, bidding her to look.

"In his own way, through all these years, part of him has always loved you, Ruriko-san."

All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew, rushing across the field to dance around her; a wind both strong and certain moving as if in an embrace, tracing her arms, her neck, and cheeks, and ghosting through the tendrils of her hair. It pushed her to stand, circling her until she wiped the tears from her face, slowing down to a breeze that brushed against the tip of her nose and her lips before swirling back up, up to the sky where the dawn slowly moved beyond the mountains.

She could still feel the warmth that it left at its wake.

"So," she whispered. "Miracle Mask strikes again."

Yukino looked at her curiously, and she shook her head.

"It's nothing. I need to get home. My husband might worry."

This time, the snow maiden gave her a soft smile, before disappearing with the remaining night.

The trek home was long and lonely, yet in the sense of loss that threatened to wash her away, she found the slightest glimmer of hope, making her believe that in spite the fact that one story ended in tragedy, another will do so in happiness.

She found her husband by the gate of their little house, his chestnut eyes wandering the empty street. When finally he spotted her, he let out a sigh of relief and walked out to meet her.

"Ruri-chan, where have you been?"

"I just took a walk," she said. "My back was starting to hurt from sitting down too much."

Slightly squinting, the man cupped her face with his hands, his thumbs moving gently underneath her tired eyes.

"Have you been crying?"

She blinked, then answered with a smile.

Her husband sighed, and without skipping a beat, held her hand and led her home.

"Come, I'll make you breakfast before you leave for wo - "

She felt the warmth of his chest as she jumped to embrace him tightly. This man, who asked no questions, told her with his actions that maybe -_ just maybe_ - every thing would someday be okay.

As the couple walked home in companionable silence, a warm breeze gently rose.

* * *

*owari*


End file.
